Dynamic Vending System and Method

ABSTRACT

A dynamic vending system includes a vending manager and a delivery vehicle. The vending manager is configured to receive and evaluate a plurality of dynamic conditions from the delivery vehicle and to provide instructions including a planned route to the delivery vehicle based on the dynamic conditions. The delivery vehicle includes a plurality of products available for sale, and is configured to execute the instructions including the planned route. The delivery vehicle is further configured to receive requests from consumers to stop along the planned route and to execute a transaction with the consumer for one of the products available for sale. The transaction includes the selection of one of the products available for sale, receipt of payment for the product, and dispensing the selected product to the consumer.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the national phase of Patent Cooperation TreatyApplication No. PCT/US2018/049549, filed on Sep. 5, 2018, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/554,899, filed on Sep. 6,2017. The disclosures of these prior applications are considered part ofthe disclosure of this application and are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to a mobile vending system and method, andparticularly, to an autonomous mobile vending system and method forprepared food available for sale.

BACKGROUND

Product delivery vehicles are generally configured to deliver analready-purchased product to a predetermined location. For example, aconsumer may complete a purchase of a product from a fixed location,such as a restaurant, by phone or internet. The fixed location thenprovides the purchased product to a delivery vehicle for delivery to aknown location of the consumer. The delivery vehicle may be providedwith a plurality of the purchased products to be provided a plurality ofconsumers at various locations. Accordingly, the delivery vehicle may bedriven along a fixed route to each of the consumer locations in order todeliver the purchased goods. Although suitable for its intended purpose,delivery vehicles carrying only purchased products lack the ability toengage and transact with consumers which may be along the fixed route,thereby bypassing potential sales.

SUMMARY

A dynamic vending system includes a vending manager and a deliveryvehicle. The vending manager is configured to receive and evaluate aplurality of dynamic conditions from the delivery vehicle and to provideinstructions including a planned route to the delivery vehicle based onthe dynamic conditions. The delivery vehicle includes a plurality ofproducts available for sale, and is configured to execute theinstructions including the planned route. The delivery vehicle isfurther configured to receive requests from consumers to stop along theplanned route or to deviate from the planned route, and to execute atransaction with the consumer for one of the products available forsale. The transaction includes the selection of one of the productsavailable for sale, receipt of a payment for the product, and dispensingthe selected product to the consumer.

The details of one or more implementations of the disclosure are setforth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Otheraspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the descriptionand drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic view of an example of a dynamic vending systemenvironment.

FIG. 1B is a schematic view of an example server of a dynamic vendingsystem environment.

FIG. 1C is a schematic view of an example delivery vehicle of a dynamicvending system environment.

FIG. 1D is a schematic view of an example user device of a dynamicvending system environment.

FIGS. 2A-2G are schematic views of an example of an implementation of adynamic vending system environment.

FIGS. 3A-3G are schematic views of an example of an implementation of adynamic vending system environment.

FIGS. 4A-4B are schematic views of an example of an implementation of adynamic vending system environment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an example computing device that may beused to implement the systems and methods described herein.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an example of a dynamic vending system (DVS) environment 10according to the instant disclosure. The DVS environment 10 may includeseveral layers for facilitating the sale and delivery of products from avendor 20 to a consumer 30. FIG. 1 attempts to simplify the productvending process into four layers: a control layer 100, a vendor layer110, a delivery layer 120, and a consumer layer 130. Each of the layers100, 110, 120, 130 is in communication with each of the other layers100, 110, 120, 130 via a communications network 140. Additionally, thevendor layer 110, the delivery layer 120, and the consumer layer 130 maybe interconnected by a distribution network 150, such as a highwaysystem.

The control layer 100 includes a vending manager 200 configured to runon a server 102 having data processing hardware 104 and memory hardware106. The vending manager 200 includes an evaluator 210 and a planner220. As detailed in FIG. 1B and described below, the evaluator 210 isconfigured to receive and interpret a plurality of conditions 212 fromeach of the vendor layer 110, the delivery layer 120, and the consumerlayer 130, while the planner 220 is configured to provide instructions222 to each of the layers 110, 120, 130. The vending manager 200 mayalso coordinate with external sources, such as weather services, socialmedia, and third-party location services to optimize the interactionbetween each of the layers 110, 120, 130.

The control layer 100 may further include a control center 108configured to interact with the vending manager 200. The control center108 may provide rules to one or both of the evaluator 210 and theplanner 220 in order to bias or fix the instructions 222 provided toeach of the layers 110, 120, 130.

The vendor layer 110 includes one or more service stations 20 configuredto maintain an inventory of products P to be provided to the deliverylayer 120. In some examples, the service stations 20 are food servicestations 20, 20 a, which prepare ready-to-eat food products P (e.g.,pizzas) for provision to the delivery layer 120, and ultimately, theconsumer layer 130. Additionally or alternatively, the products P may beindividual ingredients to be provided to the delivery layer 120, wherebythe delivery layer 120 includes a means for assembling the ingredientsinto ready-to-eat food products P. While food products P are discussedhereafter, the method and system described herein may be used fordelivery of any products.

The delivery layer 120 includes at least one delivery vehicle 300configured to distribute the food products P from the vendor layer 110to the consumer layer 120. As described in greater detail, below, thedelivery vehicle 300 may provide conditions 212 to the evaluator 210 ofthe vending manager 200 and receive responsive instructions 222 from theplanner 220. Although the vending manager 200 is illustrated as acentralized device located on the control layer 100, in some examplesthe DVS environment 10 may include a network of vending managers 200,which intercommunicate with each other to coordinate the vendor layer110 and the delivery layer 120. For example, each of the deliveryvehicles 300 may include a vending manager 200, such that the deliveryvehicles 300 communicate with each other directly to evaluate conditions212 and determine instructions 222.

The consumer layer 130 includes at least one consumer 30 incommunication with the delivery layer 120 via the distribution network150. In some examples, the consumer 30 may be in communication with auser device 400. In some examples, the user device 400 is a mobiledevice 400, such as a smart phone or tablet. However, as discussedabove, the user device 400 may be a stationary device, such as apersonal computer, a smart television, a smart speaker, or otherinteractive devices. The user device 400 is in communication with thecommunication network 140, thereby placing the consumer 30 incommunication with each of the control layer 100, the vendor layer 110,and the delivery layer 120. The user device 400 may include downloadablesoftware, such as an application 410 (i.e., app) executable to providean interface for communicating with each of the control layer 100, thevendor layer 110, and the delivery layer 120, as described in greaterdetail, below.

The consumer layer 130 may also include buildings 40 and otherstructures having vending areas for the delivery vehicles 300 tointeract with the consumers 30. The buildings 40 may include mediadevices, such as televisions or computers which provide interfacesbetween the consumers 30 and at least one of the control layer 100, thevendor layer 110, and the delivery layer 120 via the communicationnetwork 140. For example, media devices within the buildings 40 maydisplay current and/or schedule locations for the delivery vehicles 300,along with inventories of the delivery vehicles 300.

With reference to FIG. 1B, a more detailed example of the vendingmanager 200 is provided. As shown, the evaluator 210 of the vendingmanager 200 may receive one or more conditions 212 from each of thelayers 110, 120, 130. Some examples of the conditions 212 includescheduled orders 212 a, locations 212 b of delivery vehicles within thedistribution network 150, current locations 212 c of consumers withinthe distribution network 150, historical and projected consumerpurchasing trends 212 d, current and forecasted weather conditions 212e, current and/or projected vehicle inventories 212 f, current andprojected traffic conditions 212 g, and/or demographics 212 h of variousgeographical areas. Inventory conditions 212 f may include inventorytypes 212 f _(T) (e.g., sizes, ingredients), inventory quantities 212 f_(Q) (e.g. total product quantity, product quantity for each type),and/or projected product life 212 f _(L) (e.g. expiration, freshness)

Based on the conditions 212, the planner 220 determines and provides aplurality of instructions 222 to the delivery vehicles 300. For example,the planner 220 may schedule order deliveries 222 a, plan routes 222 bfor each of the delivery vehicles 300, schedule vehicle stops 222 calong the planned routes 222 b, and/or determine inventories 222 d foreach of the delivery vehicles 300. The scheduled vehicle stops 222 c mayinclude planned stops 222 c ₁, which are predetermined by the planner220 independent of any specific transaction, and are based on maximizinga likelihood of sale of the products P at the stop location.Additionally or alternatively, the scheduled stops 222 c may includerequested stops 222 c ₂, which can be added to the planned route 222 bat any time. As discussed in greater detail below, the requested stops222 c ₂ may be associated with a specific transaction including theproducts P. In some examples, the requested stops 222 c ₂ may bereceived from the user device 400 via direct communication and/or thenetwork 140. In other examples, the consumer 30 may be able tophysically prompt the planner 220 to add a requested stop 222 c ₂ to theplanned route 222 b.

Generally, the vending manager 200 is configured to optimize routes 222b, stops 222 c, and inventory 222 d to maximize the number of consumers30 reached, while minimizing a length and/or duration of the plannedroute 222 b. Although the planner 220 may be configured to provideinitial instances of each of the instructions 222 based on theconditions 212 received at a first point in time, the vending manager200 may also dynamically adjust the instructions in real-time as theconditions 212 change. For example, the vending manager 200 may adjustdelivery vehicle 300 routes 222 b based on an interruption in traffic212 g or a shift in consumer locations 212 c. In some examples, theplanner 220 may dynamically update instructions 222 to a first deliveryvehicle 300 to accommodate unexpected deviations by a second deliveryvehicle 300, such as unscheduled stops and/or changes in productinventory.

In addition to maximizing the number of consumers 30 reached, thevending manager 200 may be configured to ensure that properties of theproducts P available for purchase satisfy thresholds related to productquality. For example, the products P included in the delivery vehicle300 may be freshly-made products, which are desirably maintained withina desired temperature range, and have a predetermined serving life.Accordingly, the evaluator 210 may be provided with conditions relatingto the expected product life 212 f _(L), which are then evaluated todetermine whether particular products P are suitable for purchase. Forexample, the evaluator 210 may be provided with predetermined expirationdates for the products P. Additionally or alternatively, the evaluator210 may determine a projected expiration time for each of the productsbased on a duration, a temperature, or a combination thereof.

Based on the product life 212 f _(L) the planner 220 may modifyavailable inventory 222 d. In some examples, once a product P isidentified as not satisfying a threshold, such as exceeding desired ageor falling below desired temperature, the planner 220 may make theproduct unavailable for purchase. Likewise, the planner 220 may limitavailability of the product P to stops 222 c or routes 222 b that can bereached prior to a projected expiration time. For example, if one of theproducts is projected to expire within 15 minutes, the planner 220 mayrestrict availability of that product P to locations that can be reachedwithin the 15 minutes. In some examples, the planner 220 may modify theplanned route 222 b and/or schedule stops 222 c to maximize thelikelihood of sale of products P based on expected expiration and/oravailability. For example, where the planner 220 identifies products Pthat may expire within a predetermined time limit, the planner 220 mayadjust the planned route 222 b to include areas or planned stops 222 c ₁that are more likely to result in the sale of the expiring products P.Additionally or alternatively, where remaining inventory includes aparticular type of the product P (e.g. size, ingredients), the planner220 may modify the planned route 222 b and/or scheduled stops 222 c tomaximize a likelihood of sale of the remaining inventory.

FIG. 1C shows a schematic view of an example of a delivery vehicle 300configured according to the instant disclosure. The delivery vehicle 300includes a transponder 310 configured to facilitate communicationbetween the delivery vehicle 300 and the network 140. The deliveryvehicle 300 further includes a vendor module 320 configured to maintainan inventory 322 of products P_(1-n) for distribution to the consumers30. As used herein, the term “inventory” includes one or more quantitiesof one or more types (e.g., size, ingredients) of the food products P.In some configurations, the delivery vehicle 300 may be a standardvehicle retrofitted to incorporate the vendor module 320. For example, astandard car or van may be fitted with the vendor module 320 so that theproducts P can be provided to the consumers 30 through a vehicleopening, such as a window, door, or hatch. The vendor module 320 may beconfigured as a dispenser, whereby a selected product P is retrievedfrom the inventory 322 and presented to the consumer 30 through thevehicle opening. Additionally or alternatively, the vendor module 320may be compartmentalized, where the products P are enclosed withinindividual chambers which can be accessed by the consumers 30 toretrieve products P therefrom.

The delivery vehicle 300 may include a user interface 330 for allowingconsumers 30 to interact directly with the delivery vehicle 300. Theuser interface 330 may include an interactive display 332 for showingvarious conditions of the delivery vehicle 300 and for allowingconsumers 30 to interact with the delivery vehicle 300. For example, theuser interface 330 may display the current inventory 322 of products Pof the delivery vehicle 300, and provide an interface for executing apurchase of one or more of the products P. Additionally oralternatively, the user interface 330 may be provided or mirrored to theremote user device 400.

The delivery vehicle 300 further includes a payment processor 340configured to receive payments from the consumer 30. The paymentprocessor 340 may include a verifier 342 configured to allow theconsumer 30 to provide an order confirmation to the delivery vehicle 300to authenticate prior payment for purchase of one of the products PP. Insome examples, the verifier 342 may include a keypad 342 a configured toallow the consumer 30 to manually enter an authentication code 416corresponding to a particular product or products P. Additionally oralternatively, the verifier 342 may be incorporated with a scanner 342 bconfigured to read a unique identifier 418, as discussed in greaterdetail below.

In some examples, the verifier 342 may include a user device interface342 c configured to communicate with the user device 400 to verify priorpurchase of one of the products P. For example, the verifier 342 mayautomatically connect with the user device 400 when the user device 400is within a predetermined proximity to the verifier 342. In someexamples, the verifier 342 may communicate directly with the user device400 using one or more wireless communication protocols, such aslow-energy Bluetooth (BLE), Wi-Fi direct, or the like. Alternatively,the verifier 342 may locate and communicate with the user device 400indirectly using one or more communications networks and a globalpositioning system of the user device 400. Once the consumer 30 is nearthe delivery vehicle 300, the user device 400 may be used to request acorresponding product P to be dispensed.

The payment processor 340 may also include local payment processingsystems, such as a payment card reader 344, an e-payment portal 346(e.g., Paypal™, Venmo™, etc.), and/or a cash receiver 348 for providingpayment at the delivery vehicle 300. The payment processor 340 may beintegrated with the user interface 330.

With continued reference to FIG. 1C, the delivery vehicle 300 furtherincludes a navigation and control unit 350. Generally, the navigationand control unit 350 is configured to manage movement of the deliveryvehicle 300 within the distribution network 150 based on both globalcontrol 352 and local control 354. For example, the global control 352may include the planned route 222 b and the scheduled stops 222 c withinthe distribution network 150, which are provided to the delivery vehicle300 by the planner 220. The global control 352 may be considered macrolevel navigation, whereby the global position of the delivery vehicle300 is managed. As discussed above, the global control 352 may bedynamically updated based on the conditions 212 provided to theevaluator 210. Alternatively, the global control 352 and position of thevehicle may be a predetermined route, where the delivery vehicle 300 isin a roaming mode and the predetermined route is maintained, regardlessof the conditions 212.

In some examples, the navigation and control unit 350 receives andexecutes instructions 222 autonomously, whereby the delivery vehicle 300is equipped with systems for navigating autonomously. Alternatively, theinstructions 222 may be provided to a delivery vehicle operator inreal-time via one or more operator interfaces 358 within the deliveryvehicle 300, whereby the instructions 222 are manually executed by thevehicle operator.

The local control 354 is configured to provide micro level navigationand control of the delivery vehicle 300, whereby conditions notavailable to the global control 352 are identified and evaluated toprovide more precise control of the delivery vehicle 300. The localcontrol 354 includes known means for identifying and evaluating localfactors. In some examples, the local control 354 includes a consumerdetector 356 configured to identify potential consumers 30 near thevehicle 300.

The consumer detector 356 allows consumers 30 located near the deliveryvehicle 300 to hail the vehicle. Upon identification of an interestedconsumer 30, the local control 354 may identify a safe stoppinglocation, so that the consumer 30 may approach the delivery vehicle tocomplete a transaction via the user interface 330 and payment processor340. The consumer detector 356 and user interface 330 advantageouslyallow consumers 30 to interact with the delivery vehicle 300 directly tocomplete transactions without the need for advanced ordering via theuser device 400.

In some examples, the consumer detector 356 is configured to communicatedirectly or indirectly with the user device(s) 400 of one or more of theconsumers 30 to determine proximity of the one or more consumers 30. Forexample, the application 410 executed by the user device 400 allows theuser device 400 to communicate with the navigation and control unit 350.Communication between the user device 400 and the consumer detector 356may be indirectly provided via the one or more communications networks140. Additionally or alternatively, the user device 400 of the user 30may be configured to communicate directly with the consumer detector 356when the consumer is within a within a predetermined distance from thedelivery vehicle 300. When one or both of the user device 400 and thedelivery vehicle 300 determines that the other of the user device 400and the delivery vehicle 300 is within a threshold distance of theother, a prompt may be provided to the user 30 indicating the presenceof the vehicle 300. In some examples, the prompt may be activelyprovided to the user via a push notification through the user device400. In some examples, the prompt may be passive, whereby the consumer30 can view the vehicle 300 location via a map provided to the userdevice 400. Alternatively, the vehicle 300 itself may provide an audibleor visual prompt to nearby consumers. The consumer 30 may then “hail”the delivery vehicle 300, either by physical gesture or via the userdevice 400. For example, the consumer detector 356 may be configured torecognize a wave of a hand. Additionally or alternatively, the consumer30 may request a stop via the user device 400.

Each of the transponder 310, the vendor module 320, the user interface330, the payment processor 340, and the navigation and control unit 350may be configured to run on a vehicle server 360 including dataprocessing hardware 362 and memory hardware 364. As provided above, thevehicle server 360 may further include a local vending manager (notshown) including a local evaluator and a local planner. The localvending manager may interact with local vending managers of otherdelivery vehicles 300 to coordinate respective operating strategies forthe delivery vehicles 300.

With reference to FIG. 1D, one implementation of the application 410 ofthe user device 400 is shown. The application 410 may display ofplurality of user-selectable areas, or buttons 412, each correspondingwith a function of the application 410, as described in FIGS. 2A-3Fbelow. Additionally or alternatively, a similar example of theapplication 410 may be executed on the user interface 330 of thedelivery vehicle 300, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

As discussed above, the delivery vehicle 300 may initially be providedwith an inventory 322 of products P available for sale based on adetermination by the vending manager 200. The vending manager 200 maythen provide a planned route 222 b and scheduled stops 222 c to thedelivery vehicle 300. The planned route 222 b may correspond to aparticular neighborhood or area. The scheduled stops 222 c maycorrespond with locations which are likely to result in transactions,such as areas having large population concentrations or areas that areassociated with the product P, like food truck areas or city streets.Accordingly, in what may be referred to as a “roaming mode”, thedelivery vehicle 300 is configured to execute the planned route 222 bwithout having predetermined orders. Here, the planned route 222 b maybe geographically-based, where the vending manager 200 instructs thedelivery vehicle 300 to canvas a particular area by withoutconsideration of conditions 212. For example, the vending manage 200 mayinstruct the delivery vehicle 300 to proceed along all streets within apredetermined area. The planned route 222 b may be dynamically adjustedbased on the conditions 212 provided to the evaluator 210. Furthermore,the planned route 222 b may be adjusted to accommodate requested stops222 c ₂, such as consumer 30 requests and/or orders, as described inFIGS. 2A-4B.

The planned route 222 b and the scheduled stops 222 c may be displayedto a consumer 30 via the user device 400. For example, the application410 may be configured to display an interactive map 412 a showing alocation of various delivery vehicles 300 with respect to a location ofthe consumer 30. The consumer 30 may select delivery vehicles 300 fromthe interactive map 412 a to display associated vehicle profiles, asdiscussed below with respect to FIGS. 2B and 2C. Additionally oralternatively, the application 410 may include user selectable vehicleschedule 412 b, which displays a list of scheduled stops 222 c for alldelivery vehicles 300 within a defined distance from a current locationof the consumer 30 or a defined location, such as a zip code or streetaddress. The application 410 may also include buttons 412 c, 412 d forinitiating orders from the delivery vehicles 300 and/or the servicestations 20.

With reference to FIGS. 2A-2G, a first implementation of the DVSenvironment 10 is illustrated. During roaming mode of the deliveryvehicle 300, the application 410 may be configured to push anotification screen 410 a to consumers 30 when one or more of thedelivery vehicles 300 is nearby, as shown in FIG. 2A. The consumer 30may configure notification settings, so that notifications are providedbased on user preferences, such as times of day, vehicle locations,and/or vehicle inventories (e.g. product quantities and/or producttypes). For example, the consumer 30 may set the application 410 todisplay the notification screen 410 a when a delivery vehicle carrying afirst product P₁ is within a five mile radius of the user between 12:00PM and 1:00 PM. Additionally or alternatively, the application 410 mayprovide a secondary prompt, such as a tone, an icon, or a vibration toalert the consumer 30 of the presence of a delivery vehicle 300.

The notification screen 410 a may include the interactive map 412 aalong with a user-selectable hail button 412 e. As shown in FIG. 2A, theconsumer 30 may select one of the delivery vehicles 300 from theinteractive map 412 a, as indicated by the hand icon. The selection ofthe delivery vehicle 300 opens a vehicle profile screen 410 b, as shownin FIG. 2B. The vehicle profile screen 410 b may include informationrelating to the inventory 322 of the selected delivery vehicle 300 andthe scheduled stops 222 c of the selected delivery vehicle 300.Additionally, the vehicle profile screen 410 b may include the hailbutton 412 e. Selection of the hail button 412 e from within the vehicleprofile screen 410 b prompts the vending manager 200 to add the currentlocation of the consumer 30 to a queue of the schedule stops 222 c forthe selected delivery vehicle 300. The queue of the scheduled stops 222c may be prioritized by the vending manager 200 based on a sequence thatthe request was received, by a distance from the delivery vehicle 300 tothe consumer, or by other prioritization factors.

With reference to FIG. 2C, the notification screen 410 a is again shown.In this instance, the consumer 30 has selected the hail button 412 efrom within the notification screen 410 a, as indicated by the handicon. As opposed to the selection of the hail button 412 e from within aspecific vehicle profile screen 410 b, the selection of the hail button412 e from within the notification screen 410 a may send a request tothe vending manager 200 to hail the nearest delivery vehicle 300, or thedelivery vehicle with the shortest queue of scheduled stops 222 c.

Upon selection of the hail button 412 e from within the notificationscreen 410 a or the vehicle profile screen 410 b, the application 410may provide a tracking screen 410 d, which shows the current location ofthe delivery vehicle 300 on the interactive map 412 a, along with anestimated time of arrival 414, as shown in FIG. 2D.

With reference to FIG. 2E, the consumer 30 may be provided with an orderscreen 410 e relating to the hailed delivery vehicle 300. The orderscreen 410 d facilitates the purchase of one or more of the productsP_(1-n) maintained within the inventory 322 of the delivery vehicle 300.Upon completion of the order, the application 410 may display an orderconfirmation screen 410 f including an authentication code 416 and/or aunique identifier 418, as shown in FIG. 2F.

When the delivery vehicle 300 arrives at the location of the consumer30, the consumer 30 may present the authentication code 416 or theunique identifier 418 to the verifier 342, which then prompts the vendormodule 320 to dispense the corresponding product P₁ to the consumer 30,as indicated by the bold, dashed line in FIG. 2G. Alternatively, theuser device 400 may wirelessly communicate with the vendor module 320such that the consumer 30 may use the user device 400 to actively orpassively prompt the vendor module 320 to dispense the correspondingproducts P₁. For example, the user device 400 may be in direct orindirect communication with the vendor module 320, whereby the consumer30 may actively prompt the vendor module 320 to dispense the products P₁by pressing a dispensing button 412 g within the application 410.Additionally or alternatively, the vendor module 320 may recognize whenthe user device 400 is within a predetermined proximity to the deliveryvehicle 300, whereby the vendor module 320 is then placed into adispense mode to allow the consumer 30 to request dispensing of theproduct P via the application 410 or via the user interface 330 of thedelivery vehicle 300.

Upon completion of the “hailed” stop, the delivery vehicle 300 mayreturn to roaming mode along the planned route 222 b. The planned route222 b may be updated by the vending manager 200 based on changes in theconditions 212 during the stop.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A-3D, a second example of an implementation ofthe DVS environment 10 is shown. In FIG. 3A, the application 410 of theuser device 400 is shown in a home screen 410 g, which includes theinteractive map 412 a, the vehicle schedule button 412 b, the orderpickup button 412 c, and the order delivery button 412 d. In thisimplementation, the consumer 30 has selected the order delivery button412 d to request a delivery of the products P where the deliveryvehicles 300 are not currently nearby and are not scheduled to be nearbywithin a predetermined period of time. The application 410 then providesan order delivery screen 410 h, where the consumer 30 can select adesired product P to be delivered. Upon selection of the desired productP, the consumer 30 may complete the transaction by selecting the orderbutton 412 f. Unlike the example of the order screen 410 d shown in FIG.2E, which places an order based on a selected delivery vehicle inventory322, the order screen 410 f of the second example may allow the consumerto select a product from an inventory 322 of all delivery vehicles 300within a defined distance. Additionally or alternatively, the orderscreen 410 f may display inventories of nearby service stations 20,which could be provided to one of the delivery vehicles 300 for deliveryto the consumer 30.

Once the order is completed, the application 410 may display orderconfirmation screen 410 f, as shown in FIG. 3C, and the tracking screen410 d, shown in FIG. 3D. When the delivery vehicle 300 arrives at thelocation of the consumer 30, the consumer 30 may be presented with anarrival screen 410 i which displays a dispensing button 412 g, as shownin FIG. 3E. As shown, the consumer 30 may select the dispensing button412 g to prompt the delivery vehicle 300 to dispense the correspondingorder Alternatively, the consumer 30 may present the confirmation screen410 f including the unique identifier 418 to the scanner of the verifier342 to dispense the corresponding product P.

Referring to FIG. 4A, a third implementation of the DVS environment 10is shown. In the third implementation, the consumer 30 signals thedelivery vehicle 300 manually by gesture, such as a wave of the hand. Asdiscussed above, the delivery vehicle 300 may include consumer detector356, which identifies the consumer gesture and initiates a deliveryvehicle 300 stop. Once the delivery vehicle 300 identifies the consumer30, the delivery vehicle safely approaches an area near the consumer 30,and the consumer 30 may approach the user interface 330 of the deliveryvehicle 300 to initiate a transaction, as illustrated in FIG. 4B.Accordingly, the consumer 30 may purchase one of the products P fromwithin the delivery vehicle 300 by interacting directly with the userinterface 330, without the need for the user device 400.

The disclosed system and methods of implementing the systemadvantageously provide a dynamic point of sale, which can be targetedtowards specific consumers or groups of consumers in real-time based onone or more conditions. As opposed to known delivery vehicles, which areconfigured to deliver already-purchased products to fixed locations, thedisclosed environment 10 is configured to adjust delivery vehiclebehavior to maximize a number of transactions by allowing transactionsto be carried out directly between the consumer 30 and the deliveryvehicle 300.

FIG. 5 is schematic view of an example computing device 500 that may beused to implement the systems and methods described in this document.The computing device 500 is intended to represent various forms ofdigital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personaldigital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and otherappropriate computers. The components shown here, their connections andrelationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, andare not meant to limit implementations of the inventions describedand/or claimed in this document.

The computing device 500 includes a processor 510, memory 520, a storagedevice 530, a high-speed interface/controller 540 connecting to thememory 520 and high-speed expansion ports 550, and a low speedinterface/controller 560 connecting to a low speed bus 570 and a storagedevice 530. Each of the components 510, 520, 530, 540, 550, and 560, areinterconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a commonmotherboard or in other manners as appropriate. The processor 510 canprocess instructions for execution within the computing device 500,including instructions stored in the memory 520 or on the storage device530 to display graphical information for a graphical user interface(GUI) on an external input/output device, such as display 580 coupled tohigh speed interface 540. In other implementations, multiple processorsand/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiplememories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices 500 maybe connected, with each device providing portions of the necessaryoperations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or amulti-processor system).

The memory 520 stores information non-transitorily within the computingdevice 500. The memory 520 may be a computer-readable medium, a volatilememory unit(s), or non-volatile memory unit(s). The non-transitorymemory 520 may be physical devices used to store programs (e.g.,sequences of instructions) or data (e.g., program state information) ona temporary or permanent basis for use by the computing device 500.Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, flashmemory and read-only memory (ROM)/programmable read-only memory(PROM)/erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM)/electronicallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) (e.g., typically usedfor firmware, such as boot programs). Examples of volatile memoryinclude, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), phasechange memory (PCM) as well as disks or tapes.

The storage device 530 is capable of providing mass storage for thecomputing device 500. In some implementations, the storage device 530 isa computer-readable medium. In various different implementations, thestorage device 530 may be a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, anoptical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similarsolid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices ina storage area network or other configurations. In additionalimplementations, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in aninformation carrier. The computer program product contains instructionsthat, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as thosedescribed above. The information carrier is a computer- ormachine-readable medium, such as the memory 520, the storage device 530,or memory on processor 510.

The high speed controller 540 manages bandwidth-intensive operations forthe computing device 500, while the low speed controller 560 manageslower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of duties isexemplary only. In some implementations, the high-speed controller 540is coupled to the memory 520, the display 580 (e.g., through a graphicsprocessor or accelerator), and to the high-speed expansion ports 550,which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In someimplementations, the low-speed controller 560 is coupled to the storagedevice 530 and a low-speed expansion port 590. The low-speed expansionport 590, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB,Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet), may be coupled to one or moreinput/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner,or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through anetwork adapter.

The computing device 500 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as astandard server 500 a or multiple times in a group of such servers 500a, as a laptop computer 500 b, or as part of a rack server system 500 c.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described hereincan be realized in digital electronic and/or optical circuitry,integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specificintegrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/orcombinations thereof. These various implementations can includeimplementation in one or more computer programs that are executableand/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least oneprogrammable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupledto receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data andinstructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and atleast one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product,non-transitory computer readable medium, apparatus and/or device (e.g.,magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices(PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to aprogrammable processor, including a machine-readable medium thatreceives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term“machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machineinstructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmablegate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devicesfor storing instructions and data. Generally, a computer will alsoinclude, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer datato, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g.,magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computerneed not have such devices. Computer readable media suitable for storingcomputer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatilememory, media and memory devices, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks;magneto optical disks; and CD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor andthe memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purposelogic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, one or more aspects of thedisclosure can be implemented on a computer having a display device,e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor, ortouch screen for displaying information to the user and optionally akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method of vending products comprising: determining, by dataprocessing hardware, instructions for a first planned route for avehicle, the vehicle including one or more products available for sale;transmitting to the vehicle, by the data processing hardware, theinstructions for the first planned route; providing, by the dataprocessing hardware, instructions for the vehicle to stop at a firstlocation; and executing, by the data processing hardware, a transactionassociated with the first location and including at least one of theproducts available for sale; and instructing, by the data processinghardware, the vehicle to dispense the at least one of the products ofthe transaction at the first location.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising transmitting, by the data processing hardware, the firstplanned route to a user device.
 3. (canceled)
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising receiving, by the data processing hardware, a requestfor the vehicle to add a requested stop to the planned route. 5.(canceled)
 6. (canceled)
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the data processing hardware, one or more conditionsassociated with a likelihood of sale; evaluating, by the data processinghardware, the likelihood of sale of the products based on at least oneof the conditions; and determining, by the data processing hardware, theplanned route configured to maximize the likelihood of sale.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the one or more conditions include scheduledorders, delivery vehicle locations, consumer locations, consumer trends,weather, product inventory quantities, product inventory types, productlife, traffic, and consumer demographics.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising verifying, at the data processing hardware, a paymentassociated with the transaction.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining, by the data processing hardware, when a userdevice associated with the transaction is within a threshold proximityto the vehicle.
 11. A system comprising: data processing hardware; andmemory hardware in communication with the data processing hardware, thememory hardware storing instructions that when executed on the dataprocessing hardware cause the data processing hardware to performoperations comprising: determining instructions for a first plannedroute for a vehicle, the vehicle including one or more productsavailable for sale; transmitting to the vehicle the instructions for thefirst planned route; providing, by the data processing hardware,instructions for the vehicle to stop at a first location; and executinga transaction associated with the first location and including at leastone of the products available for sale; and instructing the vehicle todispense the at least one of the products of the transaction at thefirst location.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operationsfurther comprise transmitting the first planned route to a user device.13. (canceled)
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the operationsfurther comprise receiving a request for the vehicle to add an requestedstop to the planned route.
 15. (canceled)
 16. (canceled)
 17. The systemof claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving one ormore conditions associated with a likelihood of sale; evaluating thelikelihood of sale of the products based on at least one of theconditions; and determining the planned route configured to maximize thelikelihood of sale.
 18. (canceled)
 19. The system of claim 11, whereinthe operations further comprise verifying a payment associated with thetransaction.
 20. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations furthercomprise determining by the data processing hardware, when a user deviceassociated with the transaction is within a threshold proximity to thevehicle.
 21. A method of vending products comprising: identifying, bydata processing hardware, one or more conditions affecting a likelihoodof sale; determining, by the data processing hardware, a combination ofthe conditions resulting in a maximized likelihood of sale; instructing,by the data processing hardware, a vehicle to execute a first plannedroute based on the combination of the conditions, the vehicle includingan inventory comprising one or more products available for sale;receiving, at the data processing hardware, a request for the vehicle tostop at a location; instructing, by the data processing hardware, thevehicle to stop at the location; executing, by the data processinghardware, a transaction including one of the products available forsale; and instructing, by the data processing hardware, the vehicle toexecute a second planned route based on the combination of theconditions and the request for the vehicle stop.
 22. The method of claim21, wherein the planned route includes at least one scheduled stop. 23.The method of claim 21, wherein the conditions include one or more ofscheduled orders, delivery vehicle locations, consumer locations,consumer trends, weather, product inventory, traffic, and consumerdemographics.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein the request isreceived from a mobile device.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein therequest is received from a physical gesture of a consumer.
 26. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising receiving, at the data processinghardware, a payment.
 27. (canceled)
 28. A mobile vending systemcomprising: a transponder configured to provide communication with awireless communications network; a navigation and control unitconfigured to receive and execute a planned route; a vendor moduleincluding an inventory of products available for sale; a paymentprocessor configured to receive a payment; and a user interface incommunication with each of the vendor module and the payment processor,the user interface configured to provide instructions to the vendormodule to dispense one or more of the products based on receipt of apayment.
 29. The mobile vending system of claim 28, wherein thenavigation and control unit a consumer detector configured to receive astop request from a consumer by manual gesture.
 30. A user devicecomprising: a display; data processing hardware in communication withthe display; and memory hardware in communication with the dataprocessing hardware, the memory hardware storing instructions that whenexecuted on the data processing hardware cause the data processinghardware to perform operations comprising: notifying a consumer of afirst location of a delivery vehicle including products available forsale; displaying a current inventory of the products available for sale;sending a request to the delivery vehicle to cause the delivery vehicleto navigate to a second location; executing a transaction to purchaseone of the products available for sale; and displaying a transactionconfirmation readable by the delivery vehicle.